Etty Hillesum Quotes
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I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world until we first change ourselves. And that seems to me the only lesson to be learned.
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Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.
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Sometimes my day is crammed full of people and talk and yet I have the feeling of living in utter peace and quiet. And the tree outside my window, in the evenings, is a greater experience than all those people put together.
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Thinking gets you nowhere. It may be a fine and noble aid in academic studies, but you can't think your way out of emotional difficulties. That takes something altogether different. You have to make yourself passive then, and just listen. Re-establish contact with a slice of eternity.
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And now that I don't want to own anything any more and am free, now I suddenly own everything, now my inner riches are immeasurable.
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I don't think I have nerves of steel, far from it, but I can certainly stand up to things. I am not afraid to look suffering straight in the eyes.
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I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one’s inner life. And that too is a deed.
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That fear of missing out on things makes you miss out on everything.
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The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.
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Every day I shall put my papers in order and every day I shall say farewell. And the real farewell, when it comes, will only be a small outward confirmation of what has been accomplished within me from day to day.
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One must also accept that one has 'uncreative' moments. The more honestly one can accept that, the quicker these moments will pass.
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Here, beside this great black surface that is my desk, I feel as though I am on a desert island.